(Grey's POV)
I released Shellder, as using Meowth against a fighting specialist would be suicide and this might be my only option. He released a Hitmonchan.
The battle began with Shellder using Withdraw and Hitmonchan using Bulk Up. Then, he told Hitmonchan to get in close to land a Thunder Punch, and I called for an Ice Counter Shield. Shellder executed it perfectly, absolutely stopping Hitmonchan with the vortex and blocking the Thunder Punch. Shellder then fired off a point-blank Icicle Spear that injured Hitmonchan, but midway through the pain, the opponent started punching the spears. That surprised me; while he couldn't punch all of them, the fact that he could was insane. He was doing the very thing I have been trying to teach Meowth to do.
I told Shellder to use a Water Gun barrage and it did, but Hitmonchan, on its trainer's command, used Detect and started dodging the attacks. It walked up in a boxer's guard at a fast pace near Shellder. I told Shellder to use Water Gun on the ground to propel itself backward, which it did, and Hitmonchan barely missed a Thunder Punch.
I realized quickly I couldn't allow this punching mon to get in close to Shellder, so I told Shellder to use Icy Wind at Hitmonchan. It did, but Hitmonchan dodged it and came running at Shellder again. I called for an Icicle Spear, but Brook ordered a Detect and told his mon to counter the punches, which Hitmonchan did. It either dodged the spears with Detect or punched the spears away as it closed in slowly. I told Shellder to back off with Water Gun on the ground, but Brook called for a Mach Punch. Hitmonchan zoomed in to land the priority punch, sending Shellder flying. He didn't lose momentum and closed in to land a Thunder Punch right at the shell.
I called for a Counter Shield Ice and it worked right at that moment. Shellder endured the pain while Hitmonchan was caught right in the close-range ice vortex. I told Shellder to use Icicle Spear in that turn as well, and it alternated Icy Wind with Icicle Spear to create a tornado of spears that pelted the boxing mon. Brook ordered a Detect and the mon tried, but unlike before, the spears were firing at random in a tornado-like fashion and it couldn't dodge them. To make it worse for the boxer, his hands and feet were freezing slowly and his movements were slowing, almost as if he would be frozen in time.
Brook told for a two-handed Mach Punch to knock out the spears and somehow survive the onslaught, and it did so. Shellder stopped spinning as it was tired from multitasking so much, and then Hitmonchan zoomed in for a double-handed Thunder Punch. But the freezing of its hands and legs meant it was quite slow, and Shellder launched a Water Gun at its face with so much force that Shellder was knocked backward, dodging the attack and landing a blow simultaneously. Hitmonchan seemed pretty angry from Shellder continuously avoiding it; it didn't make sense to the boxer how a shell was outmaneuvering it so much throughout the match.
To be honest, I realized Shellder was running on fumes and that one Thunder Punch really did injure Shellder quite a lot; if not for that Withdraw at the start, it would have been fatal. That freezing of Hitmonchan was quite lucky for Shellder. Brook ordered for a Mach Punch to quickly hit him, and I ordered for an Icicle Spear barrage. Both sides went in. Hitmonchan went in straight, dodging or punching the spears, whereas Shellder kept at it.
At the last moment, when Hitmonchan almost came near Shellder, in a moment of brilliance, Shellder spun one of its Icicle Spears almost like a drill—based on one of Grey's ideas which he had discussed—and fired it at Hitmonchan's face. Hitmonchan, who had committed to the Mach Punch, couldn't dodge it. The punch landed on the shell and the spear blew at the boxer's face, after which he fell. Shellder was barely standing from the punch; in fact, the attack at the face might have reduced some of the momentum of the punch, else Shellder might have lost.
The winner was Shellder, so I won against Brook—barely.
He was surprised by the loss, but he took it in stride and returned his mon. He then gave me the prize money after saying it was one of his most interesting matches since he became a trainer and that he was impressed by my creativity.
He paid me 2000 pokedollars and then asked me for a deal before heading to the Pokémon Center. He wanted to teach his pokemon Strength and was sure I had the HM for it. He was willing to offer me the use of a one-time TM for any of the elemental punches or the use of the HM Rock Smash. Ideally, I would have loved to teach any of my moves the elemental punches, but none of my current team could learn them. However, Axew can learn Rock Smash, so I settled for that. He wanted his Machop to learn the move Strength as its evolution line uses its muscles quite well and he had some plans about using the HM. For me, while I couldn't get any elemental punches, getting Rock Smash works; not only does Axew get to learn a fighting move, it also helps to deal with its ice-type weakness.
We headed to the Pokémon Center where we healed both our Pokémon, then we used our respective HMs on each other's Pokémon. I used it on Machop and he on Axew, and preliminarily the mons learned the move, but they have to practice the move to get better at it.
I did ask him how he was willing to easily give away the punches TM, to which he told me that as his Pokémon already know the moves, they can train any of his newer Pokémon from scratch. He then wished me luck and left the center, but not before giving me his number for contact while I contemplated the match.
I had won the match, but it was too close for me and Shellder got lucky with the freeze, else it could have lost. Brook is definitely from some clan that owns the Karate Dojo, as he had some plan to catch multiple foreign Pokémon with the fighting type; he might not fear some carry limit as he could send back the Pokémon to the Dojo, and he must have the resources to train his fighting-type mons. His Machop seemed to have inherited the move Reversal as an egg move, I guess like how Axew got Night Slash and Dragon Dance.
To be honest, while I was a bit conflicted as the match was too close, I was also happy that I had beaten someone that good and also I was a bit competitive as I might have gained a rival. Brook might be one of the few people in my age bracket who could give me a challenge. I will give both Axew and Shellder treats today for sure. I had to guess maybe the food was having some effects, as Axew or Shellder might have normally lost, but they seemed to get that "extra mile" push, or maybe it might be stubbornness. I guess all my mons are stubborn for some reason; maybe Meowth might also be that way or become that way in the long run.
After my Pokémon were treated, I told both Axew and Shellder to rest for the remaining time as they had pushed very hard for that battle and even after treatment looked very tired. I did some solo training with Meowth and also some last-minute Pay Day extraction to sell before leaving. I took Exeggcute from Erika at around evening; while it didn't learn any other new moves, it improved on Mega Drain and Grassy Terrain. Erika told me to teach Exeggcute Giga Drain as its next priority using the TM and then work on it and the moves it learned; it had potential to stall and win, to which I nodded.
I told my parents, Joy, and even Jenny goodbye after visiting them respectively and then left Celadon, as I had spent a lot more time here than required. My next goal would be Vermillion. I made a stay at Route 7 itself; tomorrow I would go through the underground tunnel to Lavender as I didn't want to travel in the dark. I then fed most of my mons and then went to sleep.
Diary Entry
Location: Route 7 (Night Camp) Entry: Celadon is finally behind me. Today was intense—a 2v2 with Brook that nearly went south. Shellder clutched it out with a Drill Spear in a moment of brilliance, but we got lucky with a freeze effect. I've definitely found a rival. Axew knows Rock Smash now, which gives us some much-needed fighting-type coverage. Said my goodbyes to my parents and the staff in town. Tomorrow, I head into the tunnel toward Lavender. I'm tired, but the team is growing. We need to stay hungry.